Love Your Work or Don't Work at All (Blog)

[Bruce Achterberg]

Before I sign off, I just wanted to elaborate a bit on another thing.

In Steve's article he mentions that any action you take in work you don't love is tainted with poison. I'd agree, but only "if" you resist the work and aren't working towards something else (although even then he does have a point, but I digress).

The "poison" that Steve speaks of is probably a reference to many things, but it's definitely something author Eckhart Tolle often speaks of in his books. You see, on a practical level, when you do work you don't love you are setting a terrible example for people.

On a mental level, you're creating suffering for yourself, and that suffering has a subtle influence on everyone you come into contact with.

On an energetic level, you spread negative energy, and to those who are sensitive to such things, being around people who don't love their work and those who are heavily resistant and negative is very unpleasant. I'm particularly sensitive like that, and it literally feels as if you're moving through a sludge of negativity when you're around those who are heavily ego-ridden.

Not only is it unpleasant, but it also sucks you into a state of negativity by passive reinforcement (despite your best efforts), and I find I often need a few days to recover and get back into my normal, more positive, calm and relaxed state after being around such people.

When it comes to unconsciousness, whether you're creating it or being exposed to it by those around you, it's best not to “spread it around” and infect other people. You do this simply because it's intelligent to do so, just like it's intelligent to not sneeze on people or to cover your mouth when you cough.

And yes, the spread of unconsciousness literally happens like that. It’s not like a disease, but it is like a ripple effect. Think of it in terms of “happiness is contagious” and “negativity is contagious”. I’m sure you’ve heard similar sayings before, and while it’s a bit of an abstraction in our case (since happiness and negativity are both polarities; awareness only offers positive “emotions” that have no opposites), but you get the point.

A brief, limited example may be:

You turn up for another day in a job you hate, feeling unfulfilled and generally grumpy. You don't want to be at work, and you hate the fact that you feel you have to be. Your "bad mood" makes you take something somebody says a co-worker says to you a bit too seriously, so you shout at them causing them to become angry.

They remain angry and go around their day, not paying attention to what they do because they're too busy focusing on the negative thoughts arising in their mind, causing an important work document they had to create to be missing a vital detail that a client was relying on to close a particular deal and receive payment.

The client does not receive payment, and instead of heading home to play with his 6 year old son as he promised, he goes out drinking. He comes home drunk and has a violent argument with his wife as his 6 year old son stands at his bedroom door and watches.

That experience alters how the 6 year old boy relates to relationships, and while he is growing up he is isolated from his peers and ridiculed. The son eventually builds his own business, but treats his employees unfairly and is particularly cruel to those who are sociable and friendly with their co-workers as he views the present moment through the lens of his past experiences with his peers, unknowingly taking revenge on his very own thoughts through those who surround him -- people who've done nothing wrong...

That is the type of "poison" and negativity that Steve talks about, and I can say without hesitation you want to avoid it at all costs. Ultimately you should learn to not create negativity wherever you are, regardless of circumstances, but that takes time to develop and isn't always realistic.

Intelligent and successful people don't surround themselves with negative people. Why? Because it's another unnecessary thing that they don't want to waste time dealing with, even if they can deal with it. Rather, they surround themselves with positive people and circumstances that are a reflection of the positivity they've cultivated internally, regardless of circumstance, and they use those resources to help make the best contribution they can to the world.

[Brigid]

You said Bruce........

Intelligent and successful people don't surround themselves with negative people. Why? Because it's another unnecessary thing that they don't want to waste time dealing with, even if they can deal with it. Rather, they surround themselves with positive people and circumstances that are a reflection of the positivity they've cultivated internally, regardless of circumstance, and they use those resources to help make the best contribution they can to the world.


Ain't it the truth.


Brigid

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by impaul99

I love how Steve writes these posts. Why? Because:

He is self-employed, making money from who? People who have jobs. I would be willing to bet that 99% of the readers on here are people who work for a living, not people like Steve who run their own blog or make money passively. So by telling people to just get up and quit their jobs he does what?

a. Demonstrates to people how they don't have the kahoona's to quit their jobs, saying that they are weaker than him. A statement like "If you don’t have the strength to say, “I quit” to something you clearly don’t want, then consider building that strength sometime before you die. " can clearly make people feel weak. What does this accomplish? Subconsciously establishes Steve's authority. Maybe one day, before we die, we can be as strong as Steve.

b. Creates contraversy, sparking a lot of discussion like this one in the forums.

c. Anyone who does decide to quit and ends up succeeding will come back and thank Steve for pushing them to take action.

d. Anyone who quits and realizes that everything is now screwed up because it wasn't the job that was the problem, but the person himself, will now be a prime candidate for FREE PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT, which they will find where? Here of course. [...]

In either case, Steve wins.

Edit: In retrospect, I think this post is pretty poorly written. If you'd like to read a better version of it, see this post. You can still read this one if you want, but it's somewhat long, wordy, and not very clear. It's not so bad that it warrants deletion, and you may still get some value from it, but it doesn't express what I wanted to say very well.

Steve does seem to go about his mission with an almost sinister level of effectiveness, doesn't he? The question is, does Steve just really believe in what he's doing, or is he all scamming the bejesus out of us?

I've questioned this before, and I've even spotted some inconsistencies in Steve's website and his actions which have made me question his motives (although this was a while ago, and back then I'd consider myself a rookie at understanding Steve). Some of the most interesting stuff you'll read about Steve come from comments he's made about his specific intentions, as well as things he's shared about his specific methods. To give you an example from a recent interview series Steve did (an interview that Steve didn't tell anyone from his website about! ), here's quote:

In my writing [...] I focus almost exclusively on the upper left quadrant (“I”). That’s intentional, and it shouldn’t be hard to see why. Some integral enthusiasts have jumped to the erroneous conclusion that my thinking must be stuck in that quadrant, but they overlook the rather obvious fact that the theme of my web site is personal development, not biology, sociology, or politics. While I consider all four quadrants in my work as a matter of course, I normally project everything to the first quadrant and write from that point of view. This is something I do very deliberately. Why? Because it’s extremely effective. Even though I address a very large audience, I strive to connect with my visitors on a very personal level, and I’ve gotten fairly good at that. To abandon that style just so I could pay homage to the other three quadrants would be inconsistent with the site’s intended purpose… and extremely foolish to boot.

Source: Zaadz | B-SCAN with Steve Pavlina (Part 2)

Ultimately, I believe that Steve is trying to do his best, but I believe what's important is to understand that Steve's "best" may not necessarily be "best" for you. He's working from his context and beliefs about reality, and I think it's important to keep this in mind when you interact with Steve or anyone for that matter. To quote Steve (oh, the irony ):

So if you don’t know your purpose in life, what kind of life will you end up living? I’ll sum it up with one word: owned (or if you’re a tremendous nerd, pwned). Your life is owned by others — their needs, their goals, their purposes. Why? Because if you don’t know your purpose, others will put you to good use achieving theirs.

I think so long as you work on what is intelligent and important for yourself (which may also involve what's important for others) you are somewhat "inoculated" against the pull other people and their purpose/goals/needs exert on you. You may not be completely immune to the reinforcement, but you are much more resilient and usually you'll have enough awareness to be able to make a choice. Really, this all comes down to the topics of “right and wrong”, the nature of the universe, etc, but I’ve found that’s a bottomless pit of complexity that seems to be a result of fear/egoic conditioning rather then a genuine desire to understand the nature of reality (at least in my experience).

What I like about Steve is that, regardless of what his motives are, he is honest (or, if not that, the best manipulator I've ever seen). He openly discusses his motives and actions, and while even that could be an elaborate ruse, I think you've got to draw the line somewhere and get on with your life, otherwise you're just playing into your own fears and limiting your effectiveness.

I think that, deep down, Steve is doing what he does because he genuinely wants to help people, but I don't think he's ridden himself of the "colder", more direct and brutally effective methods he learned when he was leaning towards the side of a darkworker (or a "self worker", as you would say, Paul). How do I know this? I see myself in Steve. It's uncanny how much, in essence, my life experience mirrors that of Steve's. I too was heavily leaning towards the "darkworker" side, and I know all too well how tempting it is to use what I learned from that period of time, simply because it’s damn effective.

Unfortunately that effectiveness comes at a cost, and in my case, I’m still not internally congruent enough to make use of all of my effectiveness without questioning my motives or being doubtful about the consequences of my actions. I’m learning that a lot of what I learned is largely incompatible with honouring my true self and a state of awareness, but I do get the feeling that eventually I’ll end up taking very similar actions to those I would have taken in my past, but for very different reasons, and a very different source (pun intended ) of “power”, or in this case, inspiration.

Interestingly, if you look at Steve's work over time (dating all the way back to what he did on his Dexterity website), you'll see his approaches change and come up to speed with his new identity. I think one of the reasons Steve is damn effective because he's been forged in the fire of self improvement - self improvement. While he may have since shifted his focus away from his self and to improvement in general, that initial "training" gives you a steely resolve that most others don't share, but that resolve can be used both constructively and destructively.

For example, compare Steve to Erin. You'll see that they both use a vastly different approach. Time will tell which is more effective, but effectiveness is very hard to judge, so while Steve may seem more effective objectively, perhaps Erin will have a larger impact down the line. It's hard to say.

Does the end justify the means? You may be quick to jump to conclusions, but it's also very hard to say. Eg. If you had to choose between killing one person to save 100,000 people -- even if that person was completely innocent and had a loving family and 2 young kids -- or letting that one person live and 100,000 other die, what would you do? What is right? It's very hard to say, and there is no clear back and white answer.

It’s the notion of “a knife, as an object, is neutral – how it is used is what matters”. A knife can be used as a helpful tool to make food for the hungry or rescue people who are trapped. It can also be used to kill and inflict harm, but how can you know that the harm being inflicted isn’t also being used for a greater purpose, equally as noble as using a knife to make food for the poor? What of the vegetables that get chopped up by the knife as a result of feeding the poor?

Really, it's all a matter of perspective, and I honestly don’t have all the answers. In closing, I’ll leave you with a favourite quote of mine. When asked who his favourite hero/villain was, Charles Connaughton replied:

Fictional characters were fun to idolize when I was in grade school, but real world heroes and villains are much more interesting. They are also the same people - those who stand up for what they believe to be right despite widespread disagreement. Whether they are a hero or a villain is entirely subjective. I feel that individuals who are both celebrated and reviled simultaneously are, at the very least, the most interesting people in the world.

Yep, I can see Steve now, clasping his hands together, Mr. Burns-style, nodding his head in a sinister manner as he chants, "yes, yes, excellent".

[Savage]

@Brigid: Fear often wins the first round or two. The game is long.

[CeciL]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

@Brigid: Fear often wins the first round or two. The game is long.

I hear that!

Can't forget fear's brother failure, you'll have a run in with him for sure. Just don't stop swinging...

[Gary]

If we don't enjoy the work we do, perhaps the problem is not in the work.

There is the work, and then there is what we express about it.

The poison isn't in the work, it is in what we express about the work we do. If you don't bring love to what you do, then perhaps you should quit poisoning your self.

Roughly half the world population lives on less than 2 dollars a day. If your work allows you a roof over your head, running water, and food to eat, perhaps you can bring your gratitude to your work.

Your work may not be to your taste, but neither is your hate, frustration, or apathy. If you don't love your work it may not be the job that needs quitting.

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by Bruce Achterberg

Steve does seem to go about his mission with an almost sinister level of effectiveness, doesn't he? The question is, does Steve just really believe in what he's doing, or is he all scamming the bejesus out of us?

Well, I think the answer to that can be found in Steve's article as to why he loves writing. Look at these and judge for yourself:

2. being witty
4. getting links
6. spawning interesting discussions
18. earning an income
47. disturbing people
73. being an authority
89. hearing the clanking of the keys
90. typing fast
100. storytelling
112. being wrong
138. disagreeing with what I've written
151. making people cry
168. writing in the dark
177. smelling vanilla
199. writing for no reason at all

Notice that while "earning an income" occupied position #18 on the list, "smelling vanilla" didn't enter the list until #177. I think it's clear where Steve's priorities lie.

Also, "soon being able to buy a Ferrari", "knowing John Chow loves me" and "getting all this crap I've speedread out of my head" didn't even make the list! Sounds fishy to me...

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by impaul99

Well, I think the answer to that can be found in Steve's article as to why he loves writing. Look at these and judge for yourself:

2. being witty
4. getting links
6. spawning interesting discussions
18. earning an income
47. disturbing people
73. being an authority
89. hearing the clanking of the keys
90. typing fast
100. storytelling
112. being wrong
138. disagreeing with what I've written
151. making people cry
168. writing in the dark
177. smelling vanilla
199. writing for no reason at all

Notice that while "earning an income" occupied position #18 on the list, "smelling vanilla" didn't enter the list until #177. I think it's clear where Steve's priorities lie.

Clearly "smelling vanilla" is code for "fanning a meaty wad of cash in your hand and basking in the aroma of said wad of cash".

Steve was also lying when he said he burns vanilla incense in his office. He really meant to say that he burns $100 bills on flaming pyres. Mmmmm, flaming hundred dollar bill goodness. (Flaming pryres of cash is also Steve's secret to manifesting abundance. Remember, you're not really resonating with abundance until you can both envision it AND have the smell of flaming cash wafting into your awareness.)



(I've no idea what American money smells like, but I'm pretty sure it'd smell worse then Australian money. It gets around more. Plus paper is more absorbent then plastic. Man, could I sound any more seedy if I tried?! )

[Love]

Thanks for writing such a thorough post, Bruce. I benefiting from seeing the way you approach these articles.

[Ninja]

I think there is one major consequence to working a job you hate, that a lot of people forget: not only are you cheating yourself out of a job you love, but you are also cheating someone else out of one! Let's say you are flipping burgers and absolutely hate it with a passion. That's okay, you're not alone. But there are also people who would love to have your job! I kid you not: I know a guy who is a frycook at Burger King and wouldn't trade anything in the world for his job. His eyes seriously begin to shine at the sound of sizzling grease, and he's saving up money to start his own franchise. There are more of him out there, and you have at least cheated one frycook wannabe out of his dreamjob. This causes him to take on work he detests, because the bills still need to be paid. His job might be something you have always dreamed about. See the dillema here?

[Bruce Achterberg]

Yikes. I was just looking over the posts I made earlier today and one of the ones I made in this thread came across as overly harsh IMO (not just to Steve, but harsh in general).

That wasn't my intention, and while you could say I’m probably overly critical of what I do, it's just that expressing my true “Self” without that expression being influenced by my conditioning is important to me, as is being considerate and reasonable to my fellow humans and life in general. As I feel I generally sucked at doing that in my post, I’ll briefly clarify what I really wanted to say:

_____________________________

Is Steve good or evil?

Steve, like anyone else, is neither good nor evil. Steve is human, and in my opinion, an exceptional one at that. The perspective you adopt will determine how you see things, and as such, I believe “evil” is a matter of perspective.

I think what is important is that you live your own truth, regardless of what it might be. If you don’t do this you may very well label other people as evil if, from your perspective, they seem to exploit you or seem to only be interested in helping themselves, but that is irrelevant.

Only you have the power to create the life you want to live. Until you claim your power, you’ll praise those who positively influence you, curse those who negatively influence you, when you’re the one who’s in control all along. I've found this to be true in my experience. Life is something to be enjoyed, not feared. To quote Esther Hicks/Abraham:

If you knew your potential to feel good, you would ask no one to be different so that you can feel good. You'd free yourself of all of that cumbersome impossibility of needing to control the world, or control your mate, or control your child. You're the only one who creates your reality. For no one else can think for you -- no one else can do it. It is only you... every bit of it you.

[eternomi]

Gotta love how you solve world's problems in a single blog post!

I'll tell you why people do what they don't love. Because money is needed to sustain yourself in our current society unless you will leave society, go to a mountain top and grow and make everything you need yourself. In fact, this is why saints ditched the mainstream society.. because their interests did not align with the needs and wants of the rest of society. If you look at their lives, you see that they either go to places where their basic needs are met, and they get to focus on what they wanna do... or they end up working at universities teaching, and researching.

Money is earned when you do what other people want. If what you like happens to align with what others like, then you could potentially be a gazillionaires with ease. If not, you are in trouble!

I agree with you that in some cases (perhaps most?), people don't try hard enough to find the intersection of what they love to do and what others need. For example, you seem to have found a happy medium between the two although you still get flamed when you talk too much about what you care about which does not align with anyone else's interests.

[Nicholls]

What if you don't like what you are doing now, but you see it as a necessary step to complete before you move on to something you really do enjoy doing? Or are you just deluding yourself that the end result will be good enough to justify the means?

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by Nicholls

What if you don't like what you are doing now, but you see it as a necessary step to complete before you move on to something you really do enjoy doing? Or are you just deluding yourself that the end result will be good enough to justify the means?

Blanket advice like "If you don't like your current job, quit, now." doesn't fly in my books. And not from the point of view of financial security and having to go through pain afterwords before finding what you love to do, but because running away from problems is hardly ever a solution.

Nobody just "appears" in a crappy job with a crappy boss and crappy co-workers by some miracle. We end up in the situations we're in by the choices, decisions, beliefs, thoughts and values we hold. Your current life is the RESULT of the sum of all of those. Quitting your job is treating the symptom, and it won't last. The only conscious, long term solution I see is to treat the CAUSE not the symptom.

It's like popping advils on a daily basis for the headache's you have, instead of digging deeper to realize that the diet soda which contains aspertame is causing your headaches. It's the "quick fix", not the solution.

I'd recommend you work on personal development, devise a plan to get out of your job into what you do enjoy doing, put it into action and if necessary set a deadline of yourself to complete the transition so that you're not deluding yourself. However, just quitting TODAY under all circumstances does not sound like sound advice to me. That's just my opinion though. Ultimately, I say listen to your intuition. It always knows best.

[Aronx]

love your work or don't work at all... that's so true. Life is meant to be abundant and humans are meant to be in constant growth. Where growth stops, then the life stops and everything is falling down into nothing. If we are meant to be happy, then we have to do the work we love, or love the work that we do, or don't work at all. Great post! thanks

[Mr.Mustache]

I'm surprised at how whiny some of the responses are, if you want to put up with a mediocre life thats fine but don't pretend its the worlds fault if it doesn't suit you. Its your fault! This is America! You can hide behind any excuse you want but just know its ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. You don't have to drop everything right now but if you just keep compromising and hiding then you'll get older and find more excuses. If you don't like mediocrity then I think your best bet is to decide now and get a game plan started.

[eternomi]

Originally Posted by impaul99

Blanket advice like "If you don't like your current job, quit, now." doesn't fly in my books. And not from the point of view of financial security and having to go through pain afterwords before finding what you love to do, but because running away from problems is hardly ever a solution.

Nobody just "appears" in a crappy job with a crappy boss and crappy co-workers by some miracle. We end up in the situations we're in by the choices, decisions, beliefs, thoughts and values we hold. Your current life is the RESULT of the sum of all of those. Quitting your job is treating the symptom, and it won't last. The only conscious, long term solution I see is to treat the CAUSE not the symptom.

It's like popping advils on a daily basis for the headache's you have, instead of digging deeper to realize that the diet soda which contains aspertame is causing your headaches. It's the "quick fix", not the solution.

I'd recommend you work on personal development, devise a plan to get out of your job into what you do enjoy doing, put it into action and if necessary set a deadline of yourself to complete the transition so that you're not deluding yourself. However, just quitting TODAY under all circumstances does not sound like sound advice to me. That's just my opinion though. Ultimately, I say listen to your intuition. It always knows best.

Well said!

[mochamajesty]

Originally Posted by impaul99

Blanket advice like "If you don't like your current job, quit, now." doesn't fly in my books. And not from the point of view of financial security and having to go through pain afterwords before finding what you love to do, but because running away from problems is hardly ever a solution.

Nobody just "appears" in a crappy job with a crappy boss and crappy co-workers by some miracle. We end up in the situations we're in by the choices, decisions, beliefs, thoughts and values we hold. Your current life is the RESULT of the sum of all of those. Quitting your job is treating the symptom, and it won't last. The only conscious, long term solution I see is to treat the CAUSE not the symptom.

It's like popping advils on a daily basis for the headache's you have, instead of digging deeper to realize that the diet soda which contains aspertame is causing your headaches. It's the "quick fix", not the solution.

I'd recommend you work on personal development, devise a plan to get out of your job into what you do enjoy doing, put it into action and if necessary set a deadline of yourself to complete the transition so that you're not deluding yourself. However, just quitting TODAY under all circumstances does not sound like sound advice to me. That's just my opinion though. Ultimately, I say listen to your intuition. It always knows best.

Agreed.

I have worked for four years at a job I thought I hated. But it turns out that I was unhappy at work because I was unhappy, period. Once I made the decision to enjoy my life and make something out of myself, my entire view of my world changed.

I produced poison for four years. And during those four years, if you had asked me if the job was the problem, I would have said, "of course." That is not the case now. And the only thing that changed was me.

[Brigid]

I see your truths, all of them.
What is within, manifests without.
The words, "personal development" are beginning to seem academic; intellect and phobia driven.
I'm changing them to "personal evolution".
It helps me take the monkey off my back as I endeavour to re-program myself. one breath at a time, and thereby take the reins of my life back in full recognition that I alone have created what has been, and what will be.

Its a pill to swallow when one has tried sooo hard to do things right, to get things right and now has the key, but is not sure how to use it.
Who can say for another that 'they quit'. They may have just as surely listened to their intuition.
We don't keep friends who bring us down with their negativity and emotionally draining behaviour. Why would we keep an employer who has the same effect?
Yes of course, part of it is ourselves, our reactions and perceptions, but sometimes, a rose is a rose and mud hole is a mud hole. Sometimes, we grow beyond the circumstances we find ourselves in and need to take the risk to move on. Sometimes, we may stay where we are, unknowingly comfortable with the devil we know.
And sometimes, well, I lost my train of thought.....lol
And that happens too

I like the way Steve opened up this dialogue.
AS he says, "we are here to shine"!!
Even if the only way we can do that is to get poked by a big stick.
Carlos Castenada knew

[qiflow]

I think it is clear that it is a positive thing to go after a career that really aligns with our true purpose. However, sometimes, you just have to survive. Or you might need to work a crap job trying to get through school so that you have the credentials for your dream career. I think you really poison society when you can't survive anymore, because the world is losing something very precious: you. Some people might be in war-torn areas, and have to do whatever it takes to make it. You do what you can sometimes. If you need to work a crap job for a while, do it. But also take active steps toward a career that is an expression of your true self and message. Make a plan and start working towards it. If this doesn't involve working in a crap job, so much the better.

If you are working in a less than ideal career while shifting gears toward something else, try to derive as much joy as you can from it. Do it mindfully. Even very unpleasant tasks can be joyful if we go about them with the right mindset.

[kat]

Originally Posted by Mr.Mustache

I'm surprised at how whiny some of the responses are, if you want to put up with a mediocre life thats fine but don't pretend its the worlds fault if it doesn't suit you. Its your fault! This is America!

(Looks around). Nope, this is Switzerland!

I'll compromise and call it 'Earth' if you will.

[Honeywith4bees]

Is he exaggerating when he writes that it’s better to leave work you dislike and take alms from those who enjoy their work? If you know what it’s like to really love your work, then you’ll probably see this is no exaggeration.



So, Steve, I don't mean this to be a wise guy type of comment, but are you willing to give me a handout, alms as you refer to them, so that I can quit my job and spend a year in school retraining for something that I would rather do? I figure that if you gave me a years worth of support for my four kids and I, I would be free to pursue my purpose with out harming my children or losing our home.

What do you think?

[codefreeze]

Hmmmmm...

For many people, just having a job - any job - is a matter of life and death. There are many people in the world who will starve if they don't get some kind of job. They don't care whether they like it or not if it means they can feed their kids.

Also, it may be you can learn to like your job, if you try to look at it in a different way.

If you want to change your job it will take time - but there's nothing to stop anyone planning - today if they want.

Is Steve good or evil? Hahaha....Steve is a very intelligent blogger - don't underestimate him!

[tov]

I buy into the "Love your work or don't work at all" theory, but what I still haven't figured out is how to find out what it is that I truly love. I'm on my fourth job in ten years and I can't say that I'm any closer to finding the work that I love. (keeping in mind that every career move was made consciously, after significant consideration, and with the aim that this time it was exactly what I wanted)

Surely there must be an easier way to figure out what it is that we each enjoy doing. The thought of going through 17 jobs to find what I love scares me!

Anyone have any ideas?

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by Honeywith4bees

So, Steve, I don't mean this to be a wise guy type of comment, but are you willing to give me a handout, alms as you refer to them, so that I can quit my job and spend a year in school retraining for something that I would rather do? I figure that if you gave me a years worth of support for my four kids and I, I would be free to pursue my purpose with out harming my children or losing our home.

What do you think?

It's an interesting question, and I don't think you should think it's silly at all. What's even more interesting is that Steve's already talked about this type of thing in his post, Ask Steve - Money and Financial Issues Solution. I quote:

Although no one suggested it directly, I soon had another mental breakthrough. I realized my original Star Trek paradigm of making money irrelevant in my life wasn’t actually broken at all. On the contrary I just needed to expand it. Once I realized that, everything fell into place for me. I need to extend my successful microcosm of financial freedom beyond my own family and share it with others. Imagine what could be accomplished by financially supporting dozens, hundreds, even thousands of other people who’ve devoted themselves to serving the highest good of all.

This is an exciting paradigm for me because it’s congruent with many of the suggestions I received, and it fits my existing expansion plans like a glove. Ultimately I want to devote the bulk of my financial resources to assemble a community of highly conscious, purpose-driven people (aka lightworkers), and make financial concerns irrelevant for them as well. I’ll see to it that all their material needs are well-met, including food, clothing, and housing for them and their families. They’ll be free to focus all their energy on serving humanity to the best of their abilities. Writers can write, speakers can speak, teachers can teach, musicians can compose, counselors can counsel, researchers can research, inventors can invent, healers can heal, peacemakers can pacify, and so on. And none of these people would need to worry about monetizing their work to support themselves unless doing so genuinely served the greater good. Some members could also support the community by assisting with childcare, cooking, etc. The members of this community would have a stable base of financial and social support to fearlessly fulfill their life purpose, the freedom to do what they came here to do. This would not be an isolationist hippy commune. It would be passionately engaged with the world at large.

[...] Find me someone with Mother Teresa’s compassion who’s been working at a meaningless job in order to pay her bills, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her fed, clothed, sheltered, and happily jobless until the day she dies. Additionally, I’ll provide the delivery vehicle for sharing her message of compassion with the world.

So if Steve does decide to go down that route and you really mean business, perhaps you might get your wish after all. (That said, if I've learned one thing from observing Steve is that he changes often and that he always tries to do the very best he can -- he doesn't just dabble -- so it's very possible he could change his plans.)

Personally, I really love the idea of making a ton of cash so you can distribute it to worthy projects -- and I'm not just talking charities, but actual projects that you are directly involved in.

For example, if I had a ton of cash:

1. I'd keep doing what I'm doing because I'm doing what I love. I'm not there yet, but I'm improving all the time and I can feel that I'm getting closer. What I would do, though, is quit my part time job because I sure don't do that because I enjoy it -- I do it to pay the bills and so that I can keep doing what I love to do and constantly come into better alignment with my passion.
   
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2. I'd be really, really interested in doing some sort of high level, high leverage projects that involve things like automation, creating really good resources for people (maybe something like Wikipedia, but better/different), and possibly something to do with media/games.

To go into a bit more detail:

Automation
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I cringe at the amount of things that we haven't automated yet. So many people say to me, "but we need to do these things. Not doing it is just lazy. What would you do if you didn't have to do these things?". Ahhh, how about important things that are worthy/fit for human beings -- things that take us past where we've gone before and utilise our potential?!

The old saying of "work to live, not live to work" comes to mind. Use your time for things that are interesting/important, not all this stuff we "have" and "need" to do because we haven't yet created the conditions necessary such that we can focus on what we REALLY want to do. To me, any excuses (ie. "we need to stay grounded somehow") are more about fear/someone struggling with coming to terms with their potential.

Many years ago we didn't need things like gyms because there was plenty of physical activity in every day living. And that, for a time, was good. But we can do so much better then that (without excluding such things for those who do really want to live like that), and it's much more effective to do a targeted exercise regime and use efficient transport such as cars, etc, then it is to walk around everywhere just to stay in shape. If walking takes 2 hours, and you can do better training in half an hour and use the 1.5 hours for other things, what would you rather do?


Good resources
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It boggles my mind that it's so difficult to become a millionaire. Likewise with understanding the nature of reality, and many other things. Why don't we have resources that cover all of this such that it's not trivially easy, but not such a huge effort? Why don't we make much, much, MUCH better use of the lessons people have learned before us so, instead of solving things we've already solved, we can work on new, interesting things? Why do we not have systems that make it easy and even desirable to share what we know so that other people can leverage our ideas? It's the notion of:

If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.
~ George Bernard Shaw

It's win/win!


Media/games
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I've been a gamer my whole life, and I've learned to see past the exterior of games and see what really lies underneath. I think there's HUGE potential in the medium of interactive media. The broken paradigm of the game industry is one of main reasons that the games industry is not overshadowing the movie industry right now, and I think if a whole lot of money was thrown towards creating the right conditions -- conditions that would act as a soil for rich, value-packed projects to be grown -- we'd finally be able to reap the benefits that come from working to make things good as opposed to working to make money.

Think along the lines of games that actually make a real difference in the world and teach valuable lessons. Think games that use human "computing power" to solve real-world problems more efficiently then any machine can. Think games that are so effective at what they do that they make standard forms of education look archaic and inefficient.

That's what I'd do with a ton of cash (at least, those are my ideas... anything else would only be different by degree, not essence). I see so much potential everywhere, and I'd love to see it being used rather then consumed in less worthy/interesting pursuits.

As Steve says, nobody wants to take out the garbage. Nobody wants to have to wash dishes and mow the lawn. Nobody wants to spend years learning something when they can learn it in half that time and get on with doing what they love/desire.

If some people do still want to do those things for legitimate reasons, that's ok to -- they still have the option to. It's about expansion with inclusion, not exclusion. But deep down, the vast majority of people really don't want to do that stuff, and I'd like to help with that because I can see that reality so clearly. It's essentially who I am, so I don't have to envision something, I just have to be myself to the best of my ability and what I speak of will come into being as a side effect of my existence.

[munish]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

If you're doing work you hate, I agree it's good to question whether that work needs to be done at all.

If no one wants to collect the garbage, perhaps we'd have an incentive to stop producing so much of it.

Excellent work by Steve !

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Honeywith4bees

So, Steve, I don't mean this to be a wise guy type of comment, but are you willing to give me a handout, alms as you refer to them, so that I can quit my job and spend a year in school retraining for something that I would rather do?

Feel free to disagree, but some people have told me they found this web site to be a useful handout... perhaps worth at least a few alms.

Am I personally going to fund your education though? Heck no. There's quite a list of people ahead of you in line. But I do what I can to help you help yourself, including encouraging you to think more resourcefully and creatively instead of succumbing to a socially conditioned mindset that sees a lack of money as a serious obstacle.

College student Alex Tew funded his education by launching a very simple web site. It earned him a million dollars in a matter of months. Another 17-year old girl built a million-dollar online business in 3 years. Were they just geniuses? No. Lucky? Perhaps. But what differentiates them most is that they put their attention on opportunities instead of obstacles.

[Anuradha]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Decide today that you’ll manufacture no more poison.

Don’t settle for less than you’re worth. Demand of yourself that you’ll do work you love — or no deal.

I'll do work I love - or no deal
Two ways to make this true:

1. Begin to love (imperate it) what I do (work on my psyche)
2. No deal ( Work on the outside factors like quitting the job)

The sense of generating poisonous vibrations with negativity is almost palpable and both the options above free us from emanating such poison. They are both conscious processes; even when I take option 2 above, I have to intensionally make an effort to drop any residual baggage in my psyche from my last job, not enough to quit it in the external sense alone.

[Natsu]

Everyone should work in something they love so that life could become more just. The logical thing would be that artists, writers, musicians, doctors and lawyers were moderately well-off, and the people who do crappy jobs were rich, or at least wealthier. Whoever digs ditches, gets into the sewers, cleans or does unfulfilling jobs should get paid handsomely for their time. As things stand now, the ones who enjoy their jobs the most are the ones getting better paid. And isn't that unfair?

Politicians should get just the minimum wages. They should enjoy being in a position which lets them move resources to help people. If they are there for the money (which they are), they are not going to do a good job. And boy! do they poison whatever they make!

The tale is exaggerated, but not too far from reality, or from what we should ask for life.

[Alex2007]

If you don't like your job take the risk to leave and try something else. Don't worry that you will have to list 10 pages of job positions you had in your CV (resume) . Don't listen to the social norms that say that you are lazy, and that changing jobs will lead you to failure. It is the opposite.

It is better that you fire them, than to be fired by them!


!!!